Music of nature can improve mental health and encourage environmental protection

According to research published in the journal, the sounds of nature may help us recover from mental fatigue. However, this power could be under threat as ecosystems degrade and people disconnect with the natural world. Global Environmental Change.

A team from the University of Exeter led the study, which analyzed data collected from over 7,500 people in the BBC’s multi-award-winning series Forest 404. This eco-thriller podcast depicted a dystopian society without nature.

Participants listened in on a range environments throughout the study. These included a coastal and woodland setting in the UK as well as a tropical rainforest from Papua New Guinea. Researchers created soundscapes by changing the sounds that could been heard. Participants reported therapeutic effects from listening landscape elements like falling rain and breaking waves. These environments and birdsongs, in particular, can help you recover from stress and mental fatigue.

The team’s findings also indicated that these outcomes could be strongly influenced in part by past experiences. People who had memories that were triggered by the sounds found them more relaxing. This increased ‘therapeutic potency’ also influenced their desire to preserve the soundscapes for future generations. Worryingly soundscapes that do not contain the sounds of wildlife are less likely to have psychological benefits. People’s motivation to preserve these ecosystems is also decreasing.

Alex Smalley, University of Exeter’s researcher, said that “as towns fell silent in recent lockdowns many people rediscovered nature sounds around them.” Our findings show that these experiences can be beneficial for both mental and conservation health. They also warn that memories matter when it comes to nature. We must ensure that everyone has the opportunity to have positive experiences with nature today if we are to harness its health benefits in the future.

Forest 404, a BBC podcast series, featured the experiment. Written by Timothy X Atak (available in full here), it depicted a future where ecosystems were destroyed and people are deprived of nature. The series was about Pan, the protagonist who discovered an archived recording from a rainforest. This implicitly asked viewers “Can you feel a loss because you have never seen it?”

Becky Ripley is the series producer. She believes the team has helped to answer this question. Becky Ripley stated that “The world is going through unprecedented ecological collapse, and with that, the sound around us is changing.” But it has never been possible to understand how these changes might be felt. Our research shows that people value the sounds of animals and birds, and feel a loss when they are absent.

The study was a collaboration of several institutions including BBC Radio 4, BBC Natural History Unit, BBC Radio 4 and University of Bristol. The paper is titled “Forest 404” and uses a BBC drama series as a vehicle to explore the effects of nature’s changing sounds on human health and behavior.